The Last Stand
by EpitomeOfCool
Summary: Set after MR3.  Max and the flock are back and it's time to save the world.  However, this is further complicated when an assassin is sent after Max who seems to always be one step ahead of them.  Want to know how it's all going down?  FAX
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride.**

'Come on guys, just a little longer and then we can rest for the night,' I hollered.

We'd been flying for over three hours now, some serious logging time. I looked behind at my flock, noting their tired faces. Angel and Gazzy were lagging behind slightly: they looked exhausted, but I wanted to reach the forest I'd scouted out a few hours ago. Total was sound asleep in Iggy's arms.

I'd almost resigned myself to the fact that we would have to stop because these guys were going to drop and soon, when the forest came into view.

Our landing could be seen as less than grateful, and the others, all but save Fang and I, collapsed onto the floor. I felt a pang of guilt at having forced them to power on for so long and not stopping at some cheap hotel, allowing them to sleep in actual beds and stuff their faces with something that was _not_ rat on a stick.

Our last hotel experience had not been a pleasurable stay though. I'd ended up duct taped and kidnapped, confined to a tank where I could no longer ascertain as to whether I was dead or alive, while all the while a clone-Max paraded as me with my flock. I'm sure you'll all now understand my aversion to the whole hotel idea.

Now, time to call upon my amazing leadership skills. 'Okay, we're going to…'

We were all fed and as warm as you could get from a dim fire and the meagre rations we'd received from my mom, Dr Martinez. I don't think I'd ever get tired of calling her, and after all these years I _finally_ knew who my parents were and I was thrilled. Well, when I say that, I mean I'm ecstatic that my mom is Dr Martinez but that my dad is Jeb the traitor? No, not so pleased about that. I still wasn't sure whether I could trust him. Too much had happened and I wasn't ready to forgive just yet.

I leant back against the tree, hands splayed behind my head. I couldn't suppress the grin that spread across my face as my eyes swept across my flock: Total was lying between Angel and Gazzy's feet, both of whom were leaning on each other against one of the great Oaks, struggling to keep their eyes open; Iggy was next to them, eyes closed so you'd think he was asleep, but he was too taught and was most likely listening for any discerning sounds that would signify an incoming attack of Flyboys; and then there was Nudge, sound asleep, her mouth uncharacteristically shut.

We were all together…for now, and for that I was grateful.

'Hey.' Of course I hadn't forgotten Fang. Things were a little complicated between us right now. Things had changed and I wasn't sure whether I wanted them to.

'I can take first watch,' he said.

I nodded.

'Ok guys,' I said, 'we all need a good night sleep. I'll take next watch and Iggy can take last.'

Fang passed round the blankets. My mom had prohibited us from leaving without them, claiming we'd 'catch a chill', even after I reassured her that we had a _very_ good immune system.

We stacked fists and I received hugs from my little guys.

Fang settled himself under the tree beside me, waiting five minutes before asking me why I wasn't even attempting to sleep.

'Just got a lot on my mind,' I replied. I had so many unsolved questions whizzing around in my head, they were like a swarm of bees in a hive and I didn't have an answer to a single one of them.

'Want to talk?' His voice was as soft as an autumn breeze. All the others were asleep now.

The night hung around us like a dark blanket, the anaemic moon cast in the centre of a splatter of stars. The leaves from the bushes and trees rustled, their twigs moving like arms in the breeze.

'I'm not sure.'

He waited.

'There's just so much going on. So much has happened, it just doesn't seem real, y'know?' And that's saying something considering we were raised in dog crates.

I continued: 'There's Jeb. Should we trust him? My mom trusts him but I, um, I…'

I'm not sure if I could voice this out loud. I had tried to banish the traitorous thought from my mind completely, but it just kept rearing its ugly head like some demonic boomerang (a strange simile, I know): could I trust my mom?

'Not sure if you can trust her?' he supplied for me. It's official: Fang is a mind reader.

He smiled slightly, obviously amused at my expression.

'You don't have to be a mind reader to understand that,' he said. Damn, he read my mind _again_.

'You don't know her,' he began, 'why should you trust her? Who do you really trust from outside this flock? The only other person was Jeb, and how many times has he lied to us? Can we really trust _him_?' Now wasn't that the million dollar question?

He was right, but there was more. There were thoughts and possibilities that still nagged away at me. I hadn't had the nerve to ask Dr Martinez my questions either, because I suppose I didn't want her to tell me the truth in case I didn't like her answer. You know, the whole ignorance is bliss thing. I wanted her to be perfect – she _seemed_ perfect, and I didn't want that image tainted.

'I know,' I agreed, 'but she _donated_ me. What if she knew about the experiments they were going to perform on me? Jeb said she only had a_ minor_ role, but what was that role? If she knew what they'd do to me and she approved of it, that she_ voluntarily_ helped, then that would make her one of _them._' 'Them' being nutcase geeky scientists who craft avian DNA into human genes.

'You'll known what to do in the end,' he said, 'you always do.' He flashed me a dazzling smile – seriously, that kid has the whitest teeth – that sent my heart beating a little faster.

'Anything else?' He asked.

Well yeah, there were _loads: _a whole hive of thoughts just buzzing away. But there was something I needed to know and I was almost too afraid to ask it.

'I need to 'save the world', whatever that means,' I said. 'You and the kids want to settle down, and so would I but I can't…'

'I'm not leaving you,' he cut in. Good. It had been like flying with my right wing missing last time we'd split, and I didn't think…

'What would you do without me?' he continued, 'especially since you have been known to just suddenly drop out of the sky. Iggy couldn't catch you because he can't see and Nudge would drop you, you're too heavy for her.'

I nudged him with my elbow. Why couldn't he have just left it at, "'I'm not leaving you.'" He'd become quite the chatterbox of late, and although I liked it, I didn't always mind his short sentences. But still, knowing that the others and him especially would be with me all the way, lifted some of the weight off my shoulders.

'I think it's got more to do with you needing me,' I said. 'You need a great leader, and I, Maximum Ride, am one such individual.'

He chuckled like only Fang can and shook his head in disbelief.

'We need to still destroy the other Itex branches. I'm just not sure where to go from there,' I said.

He thought for a moment, and then rummaging through his bag, retrieved his laptop (courtesy of the school when we 'borrowed' it). 'Let me have a look on here. They left a load of files, maybe something might turn up, give us a better idea on what to do next,' he offered.

I should of felt grateful but all I could think was: I should of thought of that and I should be the one making the decisions and oh God I was being _stupid_ thinking that he was taking my job away from me.

He'd been leading his own flock for the last few weeks, and he knew that Max-the-leader sometimes crumbled under all the pressure. I was just too stubborn to admit it.

'You've got next watch, go get some sleep,' he ordered. Hey, who was the leader here? He flung my blanket at me, and me being oh so mature, stuck my tongue out at him in reply.

I settled nearby Nudge, surprised at how quickly sleep enveloped me.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride.**

'Up and away guys,' I called.

We were in the air: flying, sweeping, soaring, and coasting on air currents. It's a totally different league to walking. It's amazing!

'Max, where are we going?' Nudge asked.

Fang and I had concocted a plan early this morning before I'd 'gently' woken all the others up, 'cause I'm just nice like that.

'We're going back to New York,' I declared.

There were varying degrees of enthusiasm: Gazzy and Nudge cheered, while Iggy just grumbled.

Total turned round in my arms: 'Ooh, I've never explored New York before. It would be so nice to return to my place of birth, or creation or _whatever_. I only ever saw the inside of that miserable building.' We'd found Total at The School there, where, if we had known he could talk, probably would have left him there too.

'You don't mean that, do you Max?' Angel looked at me with big blue eyes. Damn, I hated bambi eyes.

'No, Ange,' I said.

She smiled. _Phew._

'There's too much noise,' Iggy complained. 'Why do we have to go back?'

I felt a pang of guilt: hearing was an essential part of how he got around and being surrounded by masses of crowds, car horns blaring this way and that and the loud grumbling from the multitude of vehicle engines, must have been a total nightmare for him. It wasn't a picnic for me either: too many people, and _anyone_ could be working for Itex. Don't you just love paranoia? But what else could I do? We needed more information and Fang and I believed we would find it there. According to Google (don't you just love that search engine?), the 'Higher Institute of Learning' (aka The School), had closed down. We weren't expecting to find much, but there may be some old records and…Ok, perhaps we were being a little_ too_ optimistic, but a girl had to try, right?

I said: 'I know and I'm really sorry Iggy, but I believe it's our best chance in finding more information on The School.

'_What?' _

Oh yeah, I'd been meaning to get around to the whole 'saving the world' thing. I just hadn't had the heart to break it to them that we weren't ready to get a home yet.

'What about settling down?' Gazzy asked. I choked down a lump in my throat as I took in his worried eyes. He'd had his heart set down on a home for all of us, they all had.

'And we will, Gazzy,' Fang reassured gently.

'But for now,' I continued, 'we've got to take down The School: every single branch, because if we don't, I think they're just going to keep unleashing God knows what else on us.'

We'd already had half-wolf-like creatures, robots, indestructible Omega (until he met me of course), and clones. I was torn between what was worse: fighting me (and I hit _hard_), or fighting Omega. I'd fortunately uncovered his weakness, but next time, perhaps the wacko scientists would correct this flaw and create something so powerful and faultless that I'd finally be beaten.

Ugh, how emo did that sound? Right, I'm through with pessimism, bring on Miss Optimistic.

'How are we going to that?' Nudge asked, 'there could be hundreds…thousands, and oh my god, it could take us _years!'_

I didn't want to admit, but she could be right. We knew _squat _right now.

'No,' Fang interjected. 'We take out the main School. You take out the heart of the corporation and it will all collapse. We have to find out who sanctioned the development of all these branches. If we take down him or her and their little scientist friends, it's over.' Wow. How many words was that?

Nobody spoke, whether to let that all sink in, or because he'd just spoken so much. He had made it sound so easy, but I knew it was going to be one hell of a fight. Nothing in my life has ever been that straight forward, so why should this be?

I caught Fang's eye, silently thanking him with a little smile. His lip twitched: his special half-smile and I blushed. How mushy was I getting? He was just my friend – my _best_ friend/my right-wing man, so why was I blushing? I filed blushing under the file of 'How not to act around Fang', and coasted an air current, vaguely listening to another rendition of Gazzy's constipation song.

New York was bigger than I remembered. Shoppers and office workers streamed across the pavement, some filing into shops and offices, while others exited out of shops and offices. Restaurants and cafes squeezed between imposing buildings: large structures that seemed to want to outbid each other in a competition of metal and glass.

'Wow,' Total murmured.

'There's a vender over there,' Gazzy pointed out, 'can I have some money to get a hotdog?'

We were all a little shaky from flying: it really takes it out of you. We needed to refuel.

I rummaged in my pocket. 'Fang will go with you while we wait here,' I said.

'Thanks,' he said, running over to the vendor, barely avoiding an elderly lady with a poodle.

Fang raised an eyebrow, his equivalent of 'oh boy', and followed after him.

'We never really did much while we were here last time,' Nudge began, 'so I was wondering if we could like look around and get some new clothes. Or can we go into one of those fancy restaurants like last time? That was _so_ funny. The looks on that snotty manages face when you told him off, and when you poured that bowl on him and he was like _'what are you doing?'_ and when…' Iggy had clapped a hand round Nudge's mouth. I gave him a wistful smile, then remembered he couldn't see it.

'Eew, Nudge,' he complained, 'that's disgusting. Don't lick, you're not Total.'

'Hey! I'd never do that, it's completely unhygienic. How on Earth do I know where your hand has been?'

I stifled a laugh at his indignant retort.

Angel patted his head, 'He didn't mean it, Total.'

'Hm.'

The hairs on the back of my neck suddenly stood on end: my spidey sense was tingling. I tapped Iggy twice on the hand: stay alert.

I looked up, instantly making contact with Fang across the street. He felt it too. I was pleased that our time apart hadn't damaged the connection I particularly coveted at times like these. He placed his hand on Gazzy's shoulder, steering him over to us with our hotdogs.

'Plan?' Fang asked.

I looked the area over, hoping for some stroke of genius.

'There's a guy behind us,' Fang said, pointing me in the opposite direction, pretending to be admiring one of the buildings. 'He's on the bench, and keeps glancing up at us from behind his newspaper.'

I didn't look back: I trusted Fang.

'Let's try and ditch him,' I decided.

Angel grabbed my hand and we allowed ourselves to be swallowed up by the crowd.

When we descended down the flight of steps to the subway, I'd begun to like the new optimistic Max. That is until I spotted_ him_ at the end of the entrance. How the (insert choice of word) did he know where we were going to go?

I could see his face from behind his cap. He was tall and well-built beneath a snug fitting trench coat. Oh boy.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride.**

Recap:

'_Let's try and ditch him,' I decided._

_Angel grabbed my hand and we allowed ourselves to be swallowed up by the crowd. _

_When we descended down the flight of steps to the subway, I'd begun to like the new optimistic Max. That is until I spotted him at the end of the entrance. How the (insert choice of word) did he know where we were going to go?_

_I could see his face from behind his cap. He was tall and well-built beneath a snug fitting trench coat. Oh boy._

Angel gasped, 'He can read our minds, Max.'

_What? Holy…_

'Max,' Angel whimpered, 'he wants to kill you.'

I felt Fang stiffen beside me.

'What's knew,' I said, trying to ease the frantic expression on her face.

'No, you don't understand,' she began, 'he was designed specifically to kill you and he's not going to stop until…'

'We need to go. _Now_,' Fang ordered. The guy with the cap had begun to walk towards us, pushing past the complaining crowds. Even the old lady with the umbrella (she can really swing that thing), couldn't slow him down. And then he began to fully sprint.

'_Run,_' I yelled.

I pushed Angel in front of me so that Fang and I were bringing up the rear. I cast a quick glance back: he wasn't far behind us; we'd need to put a real spurt on if we were going to outrun this son of a gun.

We pushed and rammed our way through the crowds, not bothering to apologies after the first dozen people we'd collided with, all of whom saw it fit to shout profanities after us. Charming! They'd be running for their lives too if they had some enhanced and modified assassin after them. Some people, eh?

'Max,' Fang said, pointing to an alley. Perfect.

'Guys, head for the alley.'

At the last minute, Fang changed direction, taking the lead and steering us in the opposite direction. What was he doing?

He led us into a shop, where we went through the back door much to the owner's annoyance, repeating the processes another two times before reaching another alley.

'U and A,' I called. It was already getting dark, but the skies darkening grey would not be suffice to cover us completely. We just had to hope no one saw us – hope that _he_ didn't see us. We were near enough the outskirts of the city to have a shot, but optimistic Max was long gone.

I flew next to Fang, waiting for him to explain. _That_ alley had been his idea in the first place, after all.

'It was a spontaneous thought, ' he explained, 'if he can read our minds, then he'd be waiting there.'

'He was Max, ' Angel assured. _Damn._

'Can he hear us now, Ange?' I asked.

She shook her head. 'I don't think so, we're too far away. I can't hear his thoughts, but he may just have better range than I do.'

She shivered, and I had the sudden urge to hold her close and tell her everything was going to be okay. But she would know I was lying, right? She'd probably already read my mind and had seen all my grim thoughts.

'He really hates you, Max,' she said, 'he keeps thinking of different ways to kill you. He's _so_ angry.' She sounded so broken, I almost broke down myself right there and then. But I caught sight of Fang, who gave me a look that spoke volumes: _we'll be okay, we always are._ It helped. A little.

* * *

We had settled for an abandoned building on the other side of the city. Fang and Nudge had gone out not long ago for food. I'd protested to go instead, only fang had oh so annoyingly pointed out that unlike moi, they didn't have a psycho killer out after them. I hated it when he threw logic in my face like that.

I kept glancing at my broken watch face: amazingly it sill worked, irrelevant of all the knock and bangs it had endured.

Gazzy and Iggy were huddled in the corner: I'd decided I didn't want to know what they were doing. Angel's head rested in my lap where I stroked her hair comfortingly, being especially careful to keep my pessimistic thoughts under close lock and key. When I'd pressed her for more information on the assassin's thoughts, she had refused to say anymore, saying that what she could pick up from his disjointed thoughts were just too horrible and she wanted to forget about it for now. I could give for now, but I may need her to divulge some of his thoughts in the future when I'd have to take his sorry butt down.

'How long are they going to be with that food,' Total whined. We needed 4 thousand calories a day with us older kids bordering on 6ft tall. Total was a small black Scottie who seemed to almost match us. I'd commented earlier on about him looking as if he were gaining a few pounds. He'd indignantly denied this and was now giving me the silent treatment as punishment. He'd simply argued he was putting on muscle. Yeah right.

'We're back,' Nudge hollered.

'It's about time,' Total grumbled.

* * *

My legs dangled from where I sat on the roof. The others were inside and Iggy was on watch. I couldn't sleep. I was too worried about the assassin. Wasn't saving the world hard enough without freaky-weirdo-enhanced killing machines out after you 24/7? Obviously not.

I'd been so caught up in my thoughts, I'd failed to hear Fang creeping up from behind me.

'Shouldn't the great Maximum Ride always be on guard, ' he teased, after I'd given an involuntary jump.

I didn't take the bait and issue a retort, instead choosing to look out across New York. It really was a city that never slept: lights and music blared from every direction, this way and that. It was only out here on the roof that you could even make out the faint glimmer of stars. They were most likely indiscernible to those who didn't have enhanced eyesight like us.

'What's wrong?' he asked.

'Nothing.' _Everything._

He didn't push the matter, for which I was grateful. He knew I needed time to still collect my thoughts.

And then he surprised me by draping his arms across my shoulders, pulling me towards him so that my head rested against his chest. My breathing hitched and I was almost certain he could hear the now cantered rhythm of my heartbeat. The move was totally out of character for him and I was about to pull away until I realised how safe I felt within his arms, and how I hadn't felt this safe since we were staying at my moms. Staying like this a little longer wouldn't hurt, right?

He smoothed my hair away from my neck, and I jerked away suddenly, remembering the time in the cave when he'd stroked my hair, trying to 'change my mind'. But we'd agreed we'd settle down _later_, he didn't need to 'change my mind' now.

Hurt flashed in his obsidian eyes for a fleeting second, but as soon as it had appeared it disappeared.

He got up without a word and turned to go back inside.

I didn't turn back round as I listened to his retreating footfalls, but I did say, 'I just need some time to think.'

He paused mid-step, then continued going inside. Had I been talking about our current problems with this assassin and the whole saving the world deal, or was I referring to 'us'? I'd let Fang make of it what he wanted. God only knew I didn't know what I was thinking anymore.


End file.
